Despite the Allies’ crushing victory of 1945, it would take many years for exhausted, battered Britain to get back on its feet.

Indeed, the nation which had entered the conflict as one of the Great Powers in 1939 would never again enjoy the same global pre-eminence.

The war and its far-reaching consequences would redraw the world map, and Britain’s sphere of influence was forever diminished.

The empire was in rapid decline, while two new super-powers the USA and Soviet Union, divided by what Winston Churchill termed the ‘iron curtain,’ would be the main world players for the rest of the 20th century - and beyond.

Queuing to get to Newcastle races from the city centre, 1947 (Image: Newcastle Chronicle)

Here in the North East, the wheels of the traditional industries were spinning faster than ever as the country sought to rebuild its shattered self.

Shipbuilding, coal mining, heavy engineering and manufacturing all boomed, and there were jobs for all.

The austerity and rationing of the war years, however, would continue well into the 1950s, and the packed shop shelves we later enjoyed could only be dreamed of.

When the North East’s children enjoyed their first post-war bananas in 1946 and 1947, it was a major event.

Despite continuing day-to-day hardships, people still tried to enjoy themselves.

Our photo selection, from the Chronicle archive, includes shots of a packed Hoppings fair, huge queues of people making their way to Gosforth Park racecourse, and then there was football.

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Meanwhile, 1947 also witnessed one of the most severe winters on record, while Clement Attlee’s Labour government would nationalise the coal industry and the railways, as well as laying the foundations for a new National Health Service which came into being the following year.

Elsewhere, if this was the year the Cold War began in earnest, and the Roswell UFO incident sparked an ongoing fascination with ET, 1947 also marked the UK television debut of Muffin the Mule!